🇷🇺 Chkalovskiy Air Base

Chkalovsky Air Base (IATA: CKL, ICAO: UUMU) is a military airfield located 31 km northeast of Moscow, Russia, near the city of Shchyolkovo and 2 km west of Star City,). It is a Class 1 airfield capable of receiving large aircraft like the An-124, Il-62, Il-76, and Tu-154, as well as all types of helicopters.

Type of Facility and Operations: Chkalovsky is a military air base owned and operated by the Russian Aerospace Forces. It serves as a major transport base and provides air support for Star City, the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center, and other elements of the Russian Federal Space Agency). The 8th Special Purpose Aviation Division (now the 6991st Air Base) operates various aircraft including the Antonov An-12, An-72, Tupolev Tu-154, Ilyushin Il-76, and Il-86VKP from this base). The FBU "State Airline "223rd Flight Squadron," which conducts commercial transportation on military aircraft, is also based here. Commercial cargo operations are not handled at Chkalovsky; civilian air cargo for the Moscow region is routed through Sheremetyevo (SVO), Domodedovo (DME), or Vnukovo (VKO).

Notable Features and History: Established in the early 1930s, the base was initially conceived in 1929 as a new flight test base of Soviet significance. It featured the largest reinforced concrete slab runway in the USSR, along with wind tunnels, hypobaric chambers, and a research plant). A "launch slide" (Chkalovskaya) was built for the take-off of heavy experimental aircraft like the ANT-25(RD)). From 1932-1935, the state flight testing institute was relocated here from Khodynka). During Operation Barbarossa in 1941, several fighter, bomber, and assault regiments, along with reconnaissance squadrons and airfield service battalions, were formed at Chkalovsky). The base received the USSR's first Il-76K for cosmonaut training on July 23, 1977). Chkalovsky is also notable as the base from which Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir Seryogin departed on their fatal training flight on March 27, 1968).

Current Status: Chkalovsky Air Base remains an active military facility. On September 18, 2023, Ukrainian military intelligence claimed to have raided the base, reportedly damaging or destroying an An-148, an Ilyushin Il-20, and a Mil Mi-28 helicopter). The base has two concrete runways: 12L/30R (3000x60m) and 12R/30L (3632x60m), both equipped with ILS CAT I.

*Sources researched: en.wikipedia.org, vatrus.info, freight-academy.com, eathergraphics.com*